Love in a Shadow
by Gundanium-Heart
Summary: AU. Harry's sister is believed to be the Girl Who Lived. Harry is the outcast of the family. He is cast away by his parents, but will four powerful ancestors be able to help Harry in his fight against Voldemort? in keeping the will to survive? Harry/Ginny
1. Chapter 1

Love in the Shadow

Love in the Shadow

Chapter 1: Prologue

It was Halloween, 1981, a dark night that would soon be remembered for the rest of the wizarding world's history. It was a cold night, with a heavy thunderstorm raging outside of the quaint little home in Godric's Hollow. Inside the aesthetically pleasing house sat a young couple, basking in their love for each other. Even though there was a terrible war that was raging in the world right then, their love for each other allowed them to escape the atrocities that a dark terror was committing. Their family was perfect. They had two wonderful (fraternal) twins, who were 1 year old. Victoria and Harry Potter were their names. To the youthful couple, James and Lily, they were the perfect children. They were both so full of energy and love.

James and Lily were sitting in front of their fireplace, talking about meaningless things and trying to forget the current problems in the world when they suddenly felt and explosion. The front door had been blown up, and pieces were flying across the room. Smoke was consuming the air. James and Lily both looked on with fear in their eyes. James turned to Lily, and with a stern look in his eyes, commanded "Lily, go get the kids and run!"

"But James—"

He knew what she was going to say. "I know, but I will hold Voldemort off until you and the children can escape to safety! Now go!"

Lily nodded, and tearfully ran up the stairs to the children's room.

James looked at the debris, and as the smoke cleared he could see two blood red eyes staring at him. "How did you find us?" He demanded.

"You think something as silly as a Fidelius Charm would stop me from finding you?" Voldemort cackled. "You are much too trusting of your friends. Now I am sorry, but I must deal with your children, _Reducto!_" Voldemort yelled before James could even raise a shield, not that it would matter with the power behind his Voldemort's spell. James was blasted into the wall of his house and fell unconscious from the force of the spell. He would have died in normal circumstances, but he been wearing a thick dragon hide armor, just in case something like this happened. Unfortunately, the armor just prevented his body from being ripped to pieces, and not from passing out. Voldemort however did not notice that James was still alive, nor did he car because the house would be completely destroyed after this fiasco with the Potter boy.

Upstairs in the room, Lily had heard the bang, and knew that her husband was dead. She was having trouble coordinating her movements and thoughts as the stress of the situation was building. However, it didn't matter as Voldemort swiftly glided into the room, and aura of darkness and evil chilling the air. Lily looked at Voldemort with fear in her eyes. She quickly reached over and protected Victoria, the child closest to her. "No! You can't hurt them! Take me instead!"

At this point, both children were awake, Victoria in the arms of her mother, and Harry standing at the bars of their cribs, each watching in horror at what was happening. They couldn't understand what was going on exactly, but they knew it was bad based on the tone of their mother's voice.

"Stupid woman! My purpose is to dispose of your children, now get out of my way." Voldemort hissed spitefully. "_Avada Kedavra!_"

If anyone had been paying close attention to the scene, they would have seen Harry's eyes flare a magnificent bright green at the same time the curse .

Lily watched in horror as the killing curse approached her and Victoria. She knew death was near, and hugged Victoria closer. As soon as the curse hit Lily, the outline of a golden shield materialized around Lily and Victoria. The spell refracted in multiple directions, and a majority of the rays struck Voldemort. Voldemort disappeared in screaming agony, while Lily and Victoria were thrown back into the wall behind them by the force of the curse. They were both knocked unconscious, and Victoria was left with a gash along the side of her midsection.

Harry did not manage to come out unscathed either. One of the rays of Voldemort's curse struck Harry in the forehead, leaving him with a lightning bolt scar. However, his hair covered most of the damage, and it was hardly noticeable at a glance. Harry quickly passed out on his bed after expending all of his magical energy.

Dumbledore quickly arrived at Godric's Hollow with Minerva, Filius, and Hagrid. They all stared in horror at the destruction of the house. It was clear that Voldemort had been here. Dumbledore's magic flared, prepared for any dangers that may lay ahead. He quickly rushed in and noticed James lying unconscious, slumped against the wall.

"_Enervate!"_ Dumbledore said, to revive the unconscious man.

James looked around quickly, fear present in his eyes until he saw Dumbledore. "Are they alright?"

"Who James?"

"The children! He was after the children!"

Dumbledore looked solemn at that. It appeared the prophecy was coming true. "I have not checked."

James looked hopelessly at Dumbledore. All hope lost, until he heard a faint crying noise. "Do you hear that!" He shouted as he shot up to run upstairs.

Dumbledore and the rest followed.

"They are alright!" James shouted. "Oh, thank God!"

Lily was still passed out, but it was easy to see she was breathing. Victoria was crying, and Harry…appeared to be sleeping soundly.

Dumbledore nodded, slowly walking over to Lily and Victoria. Dumbledore looked closely at Victoria's scar, his eyes twinkling delightfully. "It appears it was Victoria's power, released by the love between her and Lily, that saved them."

**A/N: This is the prologue to the story I am starting to write. Hopefully this story line isn't too cliché or overused. I am trying to make this original, but you are going to have wait for the story to progress to see where it is going. I like how it is coming along, so I have decided to post it. I don't normally do this, and I cannot promise quick nor consistent updates. So please, bear with me. And please review! Even if you want to flame this, I will gladly accept it! I just want response and critique! Tell me what you think.**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything in relation to it

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything in relation to it.**

_A/N: Here is the next installment. This unbetaed, so I'm sorry. I feel bad making y'all wait, but the next chapters should all be betaed and whatnot. I hope you enjoy! The chapters that are betaed should also be a lot more developed than these past two chapters…and a lot longer because I am planning on making this almost novel length. These are really just teasers to your guys' interest. Please read and review!_

_Also, the italicized text means Harry is in a dream._

Chapter: 1 – Sitting in a Shadow

Harry was in fact very sad. It was his birthday too, but he didn't get any presents. In fact the only things he ever got from his parents were reprimands. He was never up to their standards. He was never polite enough, social enough, or anything enough. He was the opposite of his sister, who was perfect. And even if he did something just as well as his sister, it wasn't good enough. And if he ever did something better than her, it always resulted in him being sent to his room. He didn't understand it. What did he ever do wrong?

The only escape for him was his books. He often read stories, imagining he was the hero and getting lost in the imaginary world. It was his escape, and his way of finding his own sense of being loved. But the escape only lasted for so long; after all, you have to accept reality at some point.

Today was extra hard though. Normally, he at least got a present for his birthday, even if it wasn't anything he liked. At least if he got a present, it meant his parents knew that he existed. But now he wasn't so sure they remembered. He felt so alone, and he longed for a friend.

Ginny was watching the boy, and her heart broke as she watched a tear fall onto the page of the book the boy was reading. She realized that this must be Harry Potter.

Normally Ginny was a shy girl, but in this case, she used her courage as a Gryffindor, and was about to introduce herself to the boy, when her Mom called her telling her it was time to go. She didn't want to; she wanted to meet this boy and help him, but she couldn't. 'Maybe next year' she thought sadly, and quickly ran to her mother.

The Potter family sat at the dinner table, excitedly talking about how much fun the party was for everybody.

"Ron and Neville and the twins and I had an amazing game of Quidditch in the yard today! It was the most fun I've ever had!" Victoria exclaimed, excitement filling her voice.

Harry sat at the table, staring at his plate miserably. He wanted to play Quidditch. He wanted to have fun. He wanted to be loved. He was poking his food with fork as he mulled over his thoughts.

"That's wonderful dear." Lily said happily, and then looked over to Harry. "Don't play with you food Harry. If you don't want to eat it, go put it in the sink."

"Yes mum." Harry said as he picked up his plate headed over to the sink. His head hanging low in defeat. He headed up to his bedroom to go read more.

As Harry lay in his bed, he suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion overtake him. He put the book that he just started reading down on the nightstand next to him, and he laid his head on the pillow, instantly falling into a deep sleep, dreams filing his imagination.

_Harry stood in front of a giant Castle. He had seen pictures of Hogwarts in books, but this castle made Hogwarts look like a quaint estate. As the boy looked at the entrance doors towering over him, he noticed they were starting to open. He wasn't sure where he was going, but the castle was beckoning him. He walked into the grand entrance of the castle, and saw four people standing in front of him. He had no idea who they were, but he could feel the magical power radiating off of them. He stared in awe of the castle and the people in front of him._

"_Hello Harry." The first man spoke, a long silver beard clearly visible._

"_Um…hello?" Harry responded in a scared voice. "Who are you?"_

"_I am Merlin, your many times over, great grandfather."_

"_That's impossible!" Harry exclaimed. "It's not nice to joke with me like that!"_

"_Ah, but if we only were." Merlin said seriously. "You are our heir, and a descendant of the four of us. A descendent of Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, and, through some unique by-laws, Salazar Slytherin."_

"_How?" Harry questioned. "This isn't real. This is just a dream."_

_Rowena quickly stepped forward to calm the child. "It only seems like a dream because this is the only time we can talk to you. What you learn tonight, you will be able to do when you wake up."_

"_Learn?" Harry asked, confusion written all over his face. "I love learning…"_

"_We are going to train you, and help you control your power Harry." Godric said. "As our heir, you are a very powerful wizard."_

"_I'm not the one that is powerful. Victoria is. She is the girl who lived. You have the wrong Potter." Harry said dejectedly._

_All four members of the group burst out laughing at that point. _

"_What's so funny?" Harry said, thinking this was all another joke again. Tears were quickly forming in his eyes. He had enough of being left out and forgotten for one day; he didn't need it to continue in the dream._

_Rowena quickly picked up on Harry's sadness. "Child, we do not have the wrong Potter. You are the chosen inheritor of our powers! We have waited millennia for you, and now that you have finally come of age, we can give you our gift of knowledge."_

"_But I'm only seven." Harry said slowly. "I'm not of age."_

_Merlin cut back in. "In the olde times, children inherited their powers when they turned seven, the most magical age and a symbol of coming of age in the world. Unfortunately, rituals and powers were lost as time went on. Wizards began relying on wands, as many no longer had the power perform wandless magic. The founders of Hogwarts were the final descendants of wizarding kind to maintain their inherited powers. As they noticed this, everyone but Helga Hufflepuff, sealed away their power to be given to an heir who was needing of the power."_

_Harry just stared in awe and disbelief at what he was hearing, unable to comprehend all of what he was hearing._

_Merlin continued. "Now as I see that I put you in a state of disbelief and shock, we will begin your lessons. Godric will train you in transfiguration and combat, but that will be later. Rowena will train in history, charms, and runes. Salazar will train you in the ways of parselmouth and potions. And I will train in defense and some of the more unique areas of magic. For tonight, let us begin with wandless magic. It will be best to learn this first so you may practice it in your house."_

"_But I can't use magic yet. I'm underage."_

"_Can't use magic you say?"_

"_Yeah, until you're of age, you can't use magic outside of school, and I'm not even in school yet. The ministry will trace you if you use magic."_

"_Alas, that does not matter. There is no way your ministry will be able to trace wandless magic, as it has not been competently used for centuries. Besides, the tracers would have to placed in the wands in order to trace that. So you have nothing to worry about young Harry."_

…_And so the training commenced, with Harry learning about his natural wandless ability, and many spells to accompany it._

_A/N: Please review! Thanks!_


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Hey all, sorry this took so long! The chapters are still short, but that should change soon. School is almost over, and I finally get to go home. Hopefully I will be successful in my endeavors of writing this story. Also, I know I said that all the future chapters would be Beta'd….but I guess I lied. This had not been beta'd, and my beta has not returned anything to me as of yet. Hopefully she will send me the reviewed work soon. But I hope you enjoy this chapter in the meantime!_

"_/" signifies parselmouth_

* * *

Chapter 2: Second Chances?

As the weeks and months went on, Harry became extremely proficient not only with wandless magic, but also with occlumency, parseltongue, and potions. Harry would often spend hours during the day out in the yard, escaping Victoria's autocracy in the household. He would often talk to snakes and practice his wandless magic in a secluded forest area of the household. His only friends in the world were snakes. One in particular, Zexion, was a constant visitor for Harry. Zexion was a beautiful European Adder, who was about 50cm in length. Unfortunately, Harry was only able to talk with Zexion during the summer months. Harry would have brought Zexion into their house, but since he was venomous, Harry decided it wasn't prudent.

/It'ssss a wonderful day outside, is it not friend_?/ _Zexion asked

/That it is Zexion; that it is./

/Why is it you spend so little time with your family in the safety of your nest?/

/They don't notice me. And everything I do seems to be wrong./

/Ah yes. My mother was like that. Since the day I was born, I was off to fend for myself. It makes a being strong I think. However, I feel that this does not hold true for your race, as your sibling seems to be spoiled by the gifts of your parents./

Harry just nodded. /I just wish they would be proud of me sometimes./

/Why aren't they? You are the first human I have ever met that can speak to snakes! They must be proud of you for that./ Zexion said matter-of-factly.

/I don't—/

"Harry! What do you think you are doing!" James yelled in fury, as he ran up and grabbed Harry by the collar of his shirt.

Harry noticed his dad raise his wand to dispose of the snake, and Harry quickly and wandlessly cast a shield around Zexion, and hissed, Hide Zexion!

Zexion quickly slithered off as the shield protected the snake from being hurt.

After the snake was out of sight, James looked at his son, hatred burning in his eyes. He was furious and speechless. He grabbed his son by the collar, and quickly dragged him back into the house. James made a few glances around the yard to make sure nobody was around to see the horrible act his "son" had committed.

Once they were inside the manor, James unceremoniously dropped Harry on the cold stone floor of the manor. Harry quickly recovered from his shock and stood up to look at his father, fear clearly present in his young features. James looked at his apparent son with disgust in his eyes. "What the bloody hell do you think you were doing?" He yelled in fury.

"I was talking to Zexion—" Harry was cut off as James's hand forcefully collided with his face. Harry fell to the floor in surprise and pain, tears forming in his eyes.

"I am going to get Dumbledore over here, and we are going to discuss this—this defect of yours! Now stay right here, and don't move!" With that, James stalked towards the fireplace and disappeared in a flash of flames.

Harry slowly got up off the ground for a second time, and stood in fear as he awaited the punishment ahead. Little Harry, who still hadn't even turned eight yet, was shaking in fear. He quickly walked over to the corner nearest him, and sat down. He pulled his knees to his chest, and he began trembling with fear. He knew it was rare for someone to be able to talk to snakes, Salazar had told him that. However, he had not been expecting his father to act like this. Once again, he had screwed up again. No matter what he did, it seemed, his parents were never happy for him. This was just another example of how everything he did was wrong, yet this time he had a really bad feeling about it.

Harry wasn't sure how long he had been sitting in the corner, but he was broken out of his reverie by voices in the room. Dumbledore and his father had returned.

Dumbledore strode over to a crying a Harry. "Harry, please come and sit down." Dumbledore said as a table and chair materialized in front of him and Dumbledore. Harry nodded, and she slowly got up from his protected corner. He kept his head down in shame, trying to avoid his father's eyes, and took the proffered seat.

Dumbledore started, with small smile and kind tone to his voice. "Now, would you care to tell me what happened—"

"He was talking to a bloody snake Albus!" James screamed. Dumbledore nodded at James, clearly unphased by the outburst.

"Is this true Harry?" Dumbledore asked, still carrying a kind tone in his voice.

Harry slowly looked up, into Dumbledore's eyes and nodded. Harry suddenly felt a prod at his mind, and remembered what Merlin told him.

_Flashback_

"_Harry, you are now a master occlumens. People will not be able to see into your mind, unless you let them."_

"_Thank you Merlin!"_

"_Now, now boy, you were the one who did all the work. I am quite proud of you. You are a quick learner, and as I have said before, I expect great things from you in the future."_

_Harry nodded excitedly._

_Merlin's tone suddenly turned serious. "Now Harry, you are still only seven. It is important that if you ever feel someone entering your mind, you should not completely block them out of your mind. It is rather unique for someone your age to be so adept at occlumency. Instead, you should try and feed their curiosity if you can. Give them a little bit of information, let them see a little into your mind until they are satisfied. That way, you can keep what you want secret, yet still prevent any suspicion from your elders. I think that this would be best, and will prevent any questions."_

_Harry nodded in understanding. _

_End Flashback_

Harry created an opening for Dumbledore to enter through, and quickly fed images of him talking to a snake, but not of the conversation.

Dumbledore nodded solemnly. The kind and caring tone was no longer present in his voice. "It appears that you, Harry, are a natural born parselmouth."

Harry didn't understand why Dumbledore seemed so disconcerted by this. "What's wrong with being a parselmouth?"

"Snakes are dark creatures Harry, and Voldemort is a parselmouth." Dumbledore paused, sighing heavily. "It is a dark trait, Harry."

"But…but I'm not evil professor! I'm just Harry."

Dumbledore looked at Harry for a minute, and then said, "Perhaps you should go to your room while I discuss some things with your father. Hurry along now."

Harry was angry now. He was not a dark wizard. And he deserved to hear what they were talking about. He quickly cast a listening charm in the room so that he could hear what they were saying as he headed towards his bedroom. Merlin had taught the listening charm and shield charm that he had used that day to him. They were some of the only charms that he had mastered. Merlin had been teaching him a few useful spells that would come in handy for protection. Harry quickly made his way to his bedroom and opened the listening channel to the charm, trepidation building as he awaited his death sentence.

"James," Dumbledore started. "This is a very bad sign. It seems that young Harry may be heading down a dark road, similar to that of Voldemort."

"I always knew that boy was a freak." James uttered. "What are we going to do about it?"

"Alas, I believe it best if we nip this in bud right away. I made the mistake of giving Tom a second chance, and I will not let myself make that same mistake again. History shall not repeat itself." Dumbledore said. He looked up James, the sparkle in his eyes no longer present. "We will cast a magic inhibitor charm on Harry so that he appears as a muggle, and we will send him to a muggle family."

"I understand." James said.

"Now doesn't Lily have a sister? Petunia?" Dumbledore asked cautiously.

A smile grew on James's face. "Yes. In fact, the Dursleys would be a perfect family."

Harry could not believe what he was hearing. How could his dad do this to him? How could his family do this to him? He knew they didn't love him, but he thought maybe they at least cared about him a little bit. Harry spent the rest of the afternoon moping in his room, thinking about how alone he felt.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Lily and Victoria returned from their shopping trip in Diagon Alley to find Albus Dumbledore and James sitting at a table in front of the fireplace.

"James? Albus? Is there something wrong?"

Albus quickly answered, "Perhaps you and Victoria should take a seat. We have something that we need to discuss…"

Lily and Victoria listened to the story about Harry being a parselmouth, and their plan of action to deal with the problem.

"I always knew he was weird!" Victoria exclaimed haughtily. She was clearly happy to see Harry getting punished

"You are just a very smart girl princess!" James said loving, as he wrapped his arm his daughter in a loving hug.

"Now Lily, how do you feel about this?" Dumbledore asked, knowing she would be the hardest to convince.

"Are you sure this is necessary?" She asked in a trembling voice. She couldn't believe what she was about to do. How could she give up her son?

Dumbledore nodded heavily. "I'm afraid so."

Lily sighed, sad to be losing her son, but understanding that she needed to protect Victoria. "I will call Petunia to let her know we will be by after dinner time." And with a tear sliding down her face, she left the table to go make a call to her sister.

"Thank you Lily." Dumbledore said. He turned to James. "I will go perform the spell right now." And with that Dumbledore headed up towards Harry's room.

* * *

Dumbledore found Harry sitting on the edge of his bed, his eyes red from crying. "Harry, I am going to perform a spell that will help you. This isn't going to hurt; I just need you to stay still. Can you do that for me?"

"I'm not evil." Harry said in a shaky voice.

Dumbledore looked at the boy, sadness in his eyes. He had always been a man of second chances, but he couldn't let history repeat itself. "I know, but this is just going to make sure." Dumbledore said.

Harry just nodded in defeat. There was nothing he could do. He knew he couldn't fight Dumbledore and run away. He just had to accept that. Harry may be undertaking heavy training with Merlin and the founders, but he still didn't know very many spells. He just wasn't powerful enough yet. Most of his efforts were spend learning a few defensive spells for emergencies, such as this, and occlumency to protect his secret powers. He could never hope to even fend off Dumbledore.

Dumbledore lifted up his wand. He began waving his wand in complex motions, and chanted "_Veneficus Absum Occulto Radix Quod Velieris Vox."_

After Dumbledore was finished, Harry glowed a bright white. Harry could feel his connection with magic waver, and slowly ebb away, until it was no longer there. His senses dulled, and his hoped waned away. He was nothing now. He had accepted defeat.

Albus smiled sadly. He hated doing this, but it was for the greater good he thought. "Now Harry, we are going to take you to your Aunt's house in Surrey. You are going to be spending a while there. But your parents will come to visit, I'm sure."

Harry nodded, not paying attention to anything the professor said. Nothing mattered to him anyways.

* * *

Harry stood at the front door of the Dursley's house, with the rest of his family. Lily rang the doorbell, and the door quickly opened. Petunia had been expecting them.

"Hurry! Hurry! Get in the house!" Petunia said in exasperation to the people standing on her porch.

They all shuffled in the house. "Petunia, this is our son Harry. He has no magical powers. He is exactly the same as you." Lily said, trying to appease her sister, however it was clear that his association alone was enough to make her want to retch. Lily quickly mumbled, "Thank you so much for taking him."

Petunia snorted in disgust, but tried to hide it all with a smiled nonetheless. "Of course Lily."

Lily looked at Harry. "Listen to Aunt Petunia, ok Harry?"

Harry didn't respond. He just walked over to Petunia in a defeated manner.

"Goodbye Son." Lily said softly as she left. And Harry could hear Victoria say that she was happy he was gone, and James simply agreed.

Petunia looked at Harry sternly. She walked over to the cupboard under the stairs, and opened the door. "This is where you are going to be sleeping. We just finished dinner, so there is nothing left for you to do. Stay in here, and I will wake you up in the morning. You will make breakfast, clean the dishes, help with lunch and dinner, and do whatever other miscellaneous chores I need you to do. Understand?"

"Yes ma'am." Harry said defeatedly and headed into his cupboard. He quickly fell asleep on his uncomfortable makeshift bed. He was exhausted from his day, and nothing was going to stop him from falling asleep.

* * *

Dumbledore sighed heavily. He was usually a man of second chances. He had always been against the Dementor's kiss, even during the darkest times of first war against Voldemort. He felt that perhaps the death eaters could learn the wrongs of their ways, and if they couldn't then they would simply be imprisoned in Azkaban.

However, today, he felt like he had not given young Harry a second chance.

It had been hard to take away Harry's magic, and take him away from his loving family, but it was for the greater good. And if he had to sacrifice one person in order to protect Victoria and save thousands of people, then he would do it. And he truly believed that what occurred earlier that day was exactly that, one life to save thousands.

Dumbledore tried not to let it bother him too much, and even though he was receiving a few cold stares from Fawkes, he felt that he had done the right thing.

* * *

_A/N: Ok, I really don't like when authors do this, and I promise to not take up too much space with these responses to reviews, but I feel there are a few I need to answer. Hopefully I can find a more efficient way to answer them in the future._

_Moon Comet: I really like your idea of having Ginny meet Harry when she turns seven, but I feel that with they way my story is headed – especially with the move to the Dursley's – that will not quite fit in._

_Codyesh2: Thank you for that wonderful vote of confidence :D. Anyways, I hope I can keep you on the bandwagon throughout the rest of this story._

_To all those who are confused: Harry is truly the boy who lived, and he is the one who protected Lily and Victoria, but because of the scar on Victoria, they believe she is the girl who lived. I'm sorry that I did not make that clearer._

_Finally, there will definitely be major H/G fluff…but not until they are at least a little older and can actually have a successful relationship._


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: So, I'm really sorry that this took so ridiculously long. I feel really bad! But I have been working so much this summer and just extremely busy so whenever I get around to work on this, I end up falling asleep. I have basically given up hope on my BETA reader...so what you see is what you get, and if you have any comments or concerns about my grammar or plot line or anything, just let me know and I will fix the problems as best I can. Thanks for reading!_

**Disclaimer: (As should have been mentioned in the previous chapters, I do not own any of the Harry Potter Universe and I write these stories for fun and not for profit.**

* * *

Chapter 04: Reformed Connections

Harry was woken up early the next morning to help cook and serve breakfast. Harry had never cooked before, and had no idea how to use any of the of appliances in Aunt Petunia's kitchen. After every mistake, Petunia would always yell at him and slap him. It was only the beginning, and already Harry's life was looking dismal.

However the worst had been when he had been when he burnt the potatoes for dinner. He served the slightly burnt potatoes to Dudley.

"Dad! He ruined my food!" Dudley screamed. "Look! My food is all burnt and gross!"

Uncle Vernon turned a wonderful puce after that comment. He quickly stood up and stomped over to Harry. The enormous man towered over Harry, who was cowering with the frying pan of potatoes in his hand. Vernon backhanded the small boy, who crumpled under the force of the slap and onto the floor.

"That should teach you not to burn our food, you awful cretin." Vernon said loudly, laughing at Harry's situation.

Small Harry had tears streaming down his face. He was lost and confused with nobody to turn to for help. However, just within the first few days at the Dursley's, Harry had learned a few life lessons. He knew he was on the start to a long and tormented childhood. He knew he had nobody he could trust. And he knew that nobody loved him, and never would. Therefore, he could never trust anyone ever again. The only people who loved him were Merlin and the founders, and they were gone now. He was alone.

With the acceptance of his difficult and magic free life, Harry quickly resolved to stand strong to at least maintain his pride. He quickly stood up and went to get the supplies to clean up the burning oil and potatoes that he had spilled when he fell…

* * *

A month had passed sine he had moved into the Dursley's. Each day had gotten harder and harder. Petunia had added more and more chores with each passing day. Harry could hardly keep up. There were just too many to do, and this morning, Harry was feeling rather ill. He wasn't sure how he was going to make it through the list of chores, let alone the day itself.

He was halfway through the list of the chores…and well into the late afternoon. He was scrubbing the kitchen floors and making sure they were spotless, just as his Aunt Petunia had ordered. However, he had been feeling sicker with each passing minute. He was dizzy, nauseous, and his body ached all over. Finally, he just couldn't focus anymore as his world began spinning in front of him. He thought, _I don't think I can keep my eyes open anymore…Why are they treating me like this?_ However, Harry's consciousness was quickly overcome with darkness.

As poor Harry lay in a heap on Aunt Petunia's beautiful wood floors that he was in the midst of scrubbing down, Aunt Petunia walked in, screeching at the scene in front of her. She quickly ran over to Harry's lifeless body and asked in anger, "What are you doing boy! You are supposed to be cleaning my floors!" And when there was no response, she promptly kicked him in frustration. Harry rolled from his stomach onto his back, and Aunt Petunia quickly realized that he was going to be useless for the rest of the day.

Harry was unceremoniously disregarded in his cupboard, left with only a bowl of water for when he woke up.

* * *

_After being engulfed in darkness, Harry was back at the castle. He didn't know how. He hadn't expected to be there since he had no magic. For the past few months he had been living without magic and love He was sitting on the cold stone floor with his knees pulled up to his chest, shivering and muttering to himself. _

_The four mentors looked at Harry, confused as to what had happened. Rowena looked at the other three men, telling them she would handle this. She slowly walked over to the poor child, who had become almost a son to her. She quietly asked, "What is wrong dearie?"_

_Harry slowly lifted up his head, his eyes widening in surprise as he looked at Rowena. He didn't know what came over him, but he simply reacted on instinct and threw himself at Rowena, wrapping his arms around her neck and seeking comfort. He began sobbing and letting all the pain flow out. He was muttering incoherently. "Dumbledore…Magic…Petunia….Mum…Gone…"_

_Rowena was extremely surprised when Harry hugged her, but she quickly recovered, and slowly wrapped her arms around him. She had no idea what happened, but she tried to comfort the child. It was obviously something extremely traumatic. "Hush now, it's going to be all right sweetie."_

_Rowena sat on the floor, hugging and caressing Harry until he stopped crying. She softly asked, "Dear, what happened?"_

"_My dad found me talking to my friend Zexion, the adder. He got really angry and he yelled at me, and then he called Dumbledore. They said that parseltongue is dark magic and that Voldemort is a parselmouth, and then sent me upstairs. I cast a listening charm so I could hear what they were saying because they made me go upstairs. And then Dumbledore said that I was on the road to become the next Voldemort. So he said they needed to lock my magic away and have my live with mum's sister, Aunt Petunia, who is a muggle."_

_The four mentors looked aghast. How could they do this to Harry? They all knew how wonderful and sweet little Harry was. Even Salazar would crack a smile from Harry, and that was saying something because Salazar preferred to always maintain a scowl on his face. "Surely your parents did not agree with Albus." Godric said, still dumbstruck by the whole situation._

_Harry nodded his head. "Dumbledore cast the spell, and now I can't feel my magic, and then they moved me to my Aunt's. And she is making me do chores all day."_

_The castle soon began to shake. Harry looked around, and he could see each one of his mentor's was mad, but none were angrier than Merlin himself. Magic could be seen pouring off of his body. Merlin looked at Harry, love filling his eyes. "Harry, this was not supposed to happen. Your parents were not supposed to treat you like that. Now come here young one so I may release that God awful curse that blundering fool Dumbledore put on you." _

_Harry, while he could feel his magic here in his dream, his connection seemed weaker and more distant than usual. He slowly walked over to Merlin. Merlin placed his hand on top of Harry's head. Harry suddenly glowed a beautiful gold color. Harry could feel his magic connection coming back._

"_All done. Feeling better young one?" Merlin asked._

_Harry nodded his head vigorously, a large smile present on his face. "Do you think my parents will ever come back and get me?"_

_Godric snorted. "If they can't realize how wonderful you are, they don't deserve to have a child like you, Harry."_

_Harry nodded, smiling. He realized that this was his real family, and nothing beside that mattered._

* * *

It had been another rough day for Harry. After having to do all of his chores for Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon returned home in a angry mood after losing an important business deal and beat Harry with the belt. Vernon apparently blamed Harry's "kind" for the loss of his good business deal.

While Harry laid in bed, he began thinking, _How could my parents leave me to these awful people? All I did was talk to a snake! I would have stopped if they had asked. I didn't even know it was bad, and now Dumbledore thinks I'm an evil person, and my parents don't love me anymore. Nobody loves me! I just wish that I could spend the rest of my time with founders! At least they actually like me…_

Harry soon passed out from exhaustions and returned to his dream that night, seeking comfort from Rowena again. The founders were not happy to hear about what Harry was going through, and the first thing they taught Harry was a large amount of healing spells in case he ever got in more situations that were dangerous to his health. He learned how to heal burns, cuts, broken bones, and to prevent scars.

Harry's less than humane treatment continued for the rest of the three years that he lived at the Dursley's house. Over that time, Merlin, Godric, Rowena, and Salazar had become the key parental figures in shaping Harry. They taught him healing spells, defense spells, charms, transfiguration, potions, teleportation (an old, quicker, and silent form of apparition that requires more focus and energy), runes, arithmancy, and many other useful techniques. It was the love from the founders that kept Harry going. He still remembers that his favorite night had been when he learned his animagus forms.

* * *

"_Harry, tonight we are going to find out what your animagus form is."_

_Harry was practically jumping with excitement. He had been waiting for this. "What do I have do Merlin?"_

"_First you need to enter a meditative state. Then you need to look inside your magical core. There should be an animal familiar imprinted on your core. That is your animagus form. Study it so that you may transform."_

_Harry nodded. He quickly entered his meditative state. He looked inside himself to find his magical core, and find his familiar. He stayed in his trance for what seemed like hours before he finally awoke._

"_What did you see my boy?" Merlin asked excitedly._

"_I…" Harry paused. "I had four animals imprinted on my magical core."_

"_Excellent!" Merlin exclaimed. "You truly are the most powerful wizard of your time!_

_"But I thought you could only have one form." Harry said in confusion._

"_And people also think you cannot talk to dead people, but here you are." Merlin countered._

_Harry just laughed._

"_Now tell me, what are your forms?"_

"_The first form I saw was a phoenix."_

"_Excellent! That is my form. It gives you power over air. What else?"_

"_Then I saw a griffon, a dragon, and a giant snake!"_

"_Ah I see." Merlin said running his hand through his beard. "Well the griffon is the power of fire, from Godric. The dragon is knowledge, from Rowena. And the snake is your parseltongue you inherited from Salazar. Excellent forms my boy. I wonder what type of dragon and snake you are though!"_

"_Cool! Yeah, I don't know what kind of beasts they were, but they were huge!" Harry exclaimed, using his arms to explain how big the animals were._

"_Yes. Well I suggest we work on your phoenix form first since that is the one you discovered first…"_

* * *

_A/N: Quick Review Responses:_

_jabarber69: I'm sure you will feel that this chapter answers your review._

_luci93182: I wish I had made it so when Harry met Ginny, his powers were returned, but I have something in store for those two later on. Right now, when they meet their connection is supposed to be weak. I'm also trying to stick to canon as much as possible. However, thank you for the wonderful ideas!_

_LeprechaunJV / Codyesh2: Harry is too shy and timid to leave the Dursley's or to disobey adults in my story. So he just toughs it out._

_bigmommak: Dumbledore sent Tom to an orphanage with magical powers, whereas in this case Dumbledore took away Harry's powers. I'm sticking to the idea that he feel Harry will never get his powers and by being removed from the wizarding world, Harry is no longer a threat.  
_

_Finally: Sorry that Harry got his magic back so easily. I'm trying to direct most of the conflict and obstacles to later in the story when I break away from canon, and these chapters are somewhat of summaries rather than serious character building._


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: So here is a longer chapter. Hopefully this will appease most of you for having taken so long to get the previous chapter out. I also just found out that I was not accepting anonymous reviews, so I am sorry for that! However, I am happy to have gotten so many reviews without allowing the anonymous reviews! Thanks for all the support! Hopefully you will all enjoy this chapter!_

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter Universe and I write these stories for fun and not for profit.**

Love in a Shadow

_**Chapter 05: A Time for Changes**_

Mrs. Weasley was yelling for all of her children to hurry down to the kitchen. It was time for the Potter's birthday celebration for Victoria. The entire Weasley family was always invited because Ron and Victoria had become good friends over the years. This year was an extra large celebration because Victoria was turning 11 years old, and had just received her Hogwarts letter. So the Potters were throwing an extravaganza for their daughter.

Ginny had been sitting on her bed when she heard her mom call. She had been writing in her diary, like she always did, about plain and boring things in her life. However, the final note she wrote in her diary was:

_Maybe this year I will be able to see Harry again…_

Ever since the party three years ago, Ginny had kept looking for Harry at the annual party, but had not seen him since. She always asked Mrs. Potter where Harry was when she got to the house. Every time Ginny asked, Mrs. Potter's expression held a tone of sadness, and she told Ginny that Harry was at a summer camp. Ginny was always confused by Mrs. Potter's reaction. She couldn't understand why she would be sad that her son was at a summer camp. Ginny just wished that this year he wasn't at summer camp because she really wanted to meet. For some reason, ever since she had seen him at the party three years, she felt almost a dire need to meet him, and she just wished that her mom hadn't told her that they needed to leave right when she was about to introduce herself. Then she finally thought to herself, "_Hopefully he has made some friends at his summer camp. He looked like he really needed some…"_

With that final thought, Ginny ran down stairs to head to the Potter's birthday blast for Victoria…

* * *

It was Harry's 11th birthday, and he had just got a Hogwarts letter. He had been expecting the letter was coming, so he got up early every morning and waited for the mail so he could grab the letter before his aunt and uncle could find it, and hide it somewhere safe. The founders had discussed that it would be necessary for Harry to go to Hogwarts, not to learn, but for him to protect the school. After all, he was the heir of the school and it was his job to take care of it and protect it and its occupants from danger.

The day after he received his Hogwarts letter, Harry decided to go buy his books. The letter said that they could be found at Diagon Alley, and even though he didn't know that where that was, he had been there before and focused on what he remembered of it. It was a Thursday morning when Harry decided to go and the house had been empty so nobody would miss him. Uncle Vernon was at work, Dudley was at his baseball game, and Aunt Petunia was watching Dudley at the game. Harry was supposed to be locked in the cupboard, so nobody would know he was missing, and the only reason the Dursley's would care would be because they needed him to do their chores.

Harry appeared in the middle of a plaza, in a hustling crowd of people all wearing cloaks. He could see the shops were clearly using magic in the advertisements, or even just to keep the store standing up, and he knew he was in the right place. However, he needed money for his supplies, and he remembered that his parents would go to Gringotts. Harry quickly spun in a circle, and he quickly spotted the enormous stone building with "GRINGOTTS" written above the giant entrance. He quickly headed towards the bank to get money. He wasn't surprised to see all the goblins working in the bank. He had read about them in a book somewhere. So he quickly walked up to the main desk to talk to the regal looking creatures.

Harry slowly walked up to the desk, and while looking up at a goblin, he said in soft voice, "Excuse me? I need to get money for my school supplies."

The goblin didn't bother looking at Harry, and replied in a raspy voice, "Name?"

"Harry Potter, sir."

"Do you have your key and vault number?"

"N-No, sir."

The goblin looked down at the child, confused as to what this boy expected without his key and vault number. "Then how do you expect to get to your vault?"

"I…I don't know sir." Harry said quietly. "I was hoping that, maybe, you could help me find it."

The goblin smiled a toothy grin at Harry. "Well, I cannot get you access to your vault. However, if you have your school letter, we can give you some of the money from the scholarship vault that helps assist schoolchildren who cannot afford the books on their own." He said slowly. He then gave Harry a calculating look, "Do you have your letter?"

Harry nodded his head vigorously and then pulled his letter out to show the goblin. "Here it is!" Harry said, handing it to the goblin.

The goblin took the letter, and nodded his head. "Excellent. I will be right back." And with that the goblin headed to a private sector of the bank.

Harry stood at the desk waiting patiently. He couldn't help but smile at the fact that he was in Diagon Alley. He could feel the magic radiating off of everybody and everything. He had missed that feeling, and he looked forward to re-entering the wizarding world.

The goblin finally returned with a small bag. "In this bag is enough money for you to get your books, most likely used, two sets of robes, and whatever other miscellaneous items your classes will demand."

"Thank you for all your help sir!" Harry exclaimed with a huge grin on his face. "What is your name, sir?"

The goblin was a little surprised, to say the least. "It is Griphook." He said with a toothy grin.

"Thank you Griphook." Harry said delightedly, and quickly headed off to buy his school supplies.

Harry made his way around Diagon Alley, buying all the books he needed (almost all used), and he quickly made his way to Madam Malkin's to get his two (used robes, there really wasn't very much money in the fund). As Harry was being measured, he was standing next to a young blonde boy. Harry, who was not very outgoing, decided to look at his feet for most of the time lest he get in an awkward conversation. However, it appeared that this boy was going to talk to him no matter what.

"Good afternoon, I'm Draco Malfoy. Are you going to Hogwarts next year?"

Harry looked at Malfoy for a second. He got a weird feeling from Draco. Harry decided to say as little as possible. "Yes. I will be a first year."

Draco nodded. "Me too. What is your name?"

"Harry."

Draco seemed to want more than that, but Harry never continued so Draco picked up the slack. "Do you have any idea what house you will be in?"

"I'm not sure." And he wasn't. It was going to be wherever Victoria Potter went.

"Well, I'm going to be in Slytherin. The Malfoy's have always been in Slytherin for innumerable generations. I want to keep the good name of the Malfoy family as well. And, my father said that if I get into to Slytherin, he will buy me a broom, even though brooms aren't allowed for first years." Draco paused, looking thoughtful before he continued his self-appraisal. "I don't see any reason why I wouldn't be put in Slytherin. It is the perfect house for me, and I just wouldn't want to be in any other house, especially not Gryffindor. Salazar Slytherin had the right idea with wanting to oust the Muggle-borns from Hogwarts!"

Harry looked at him with a calculating gaze. "Perhaps you are looking too much into the rumors of Salazar Slytherin." Harry said, knowing full well that at one point Salazar had wanted to ban all muggle-borns from Hogwarts…but that was because of previous traumatizing experiences with muggles. Once Salazar had been evicted from the castle for his extremist views, he had seen the good that lived in many muggles and changed his mind on original beliefs. However, Salazar never made a full public return to Hogwarts. Instead, he worked in the field for many business matters in regards to Hogwarts, and very few people knew of his endeavors for Hogwarts after he had been evicted from the castle.

Draco merely scoffed at Harry, but before he could make a retort, Madame Malkin had returned with both their robes, and checked them out.

Harry quickly bought the rest of his necessary items for school, and with his last bit of money (which he had left over since he bought everything second hand), he bought a beautiful snow owl that he named Hedwig. He finally made his way back to his cupboard at the Dursley's.

* * *

Ginny had been at the Potter's party for about an hour. She had been looking for Harry the entire time, and had finally decided it was time to ask Mrs. Potter…like she did every year.

Ginny found Mrs. Potter in the kitchen, working on some sort of appetizer assortment. She knew this was her chance to ask her where Harry was. "Hello, Mrs. Potter."

Lily looked over, surprise written on her face. "Oh, hello Ginny."

"I was wondering if Harry was here this year?"

Lily had a lost and forlorn look come over her. Every year Ginny would ask her this question, reminding her of what she did. And every year, it seemed to hurt more and more. But, as she always told herself, it was for the greater good. "I'm sorry Ginny. He is at summer camp again."

Ginny decided she wasn't going to give up yet. This still seemed rather weird to her. Why was Harry always gone on summer camp for his birthday? "What summer camp is he on? Is he having fun?"

Lily's eyes went wide, and she stuttered for a second. "He is in…He is in Australia. And yes, he is having a lot of…fun."

"What is he doing in Australia? It sounds really cool!" Ginny said feigning interest, and losing trust in Mrs. Potter every word she spoke.

"He is…you know, doing what boys do at summer camp."

"Oh, ok." Ginny said, not believing anything Mrs. Potter said, but knowing there was nothing she could do, which meant that she was stuck at a boring party for her brother's stuck up friend. Ginny never liked Victoria, and Victoria did not like Ginny. So it was mutual.

* * *

When Harry entered his dream, he quickly told all the founders about his trip to Diagon Alley.

_Dream_

"…_and I went to Gringotts, and they gave me a scholarship fund to buy all my supplies—"_

_Merlin quickly interrupted. "I completely forgot to tell you! You don't need to use the fund. You have access to my vault, as you are my sole designated heir. Next year when you go back you can talk to the goblins and receive access to your vault. You can buy whatever you want with the money in there, and I think that when you go back you should look into getting some new clothes for yourself…"_

_Harry nodded in agreement and awe._

"_So in reality Harry, you really didn't need that fund since you are the richest wizard in the world. However, nobody will ever know because my vault, The Vault of Merlin, Vault #1, is extremely private and only a few goblins are allowed access to the management files"_

_Harry stared in awe._

"_Now Harry, let us finish up that Phoenix transformation. Find your center, and look inside yourself to find the power of the phoenix embedded within your core…"_

_End Dream_

* * *

When August 31st finally rolled around, he told his aunt and uncle that he would be leaving, and hopefully not coming back. They were only too excited to get the freak out of the house. He teleported to King's Cross. He headed through the large building to find his station.

As he was between Station 5 and station 6, he saw a large group of redheads standing in front of a pillar. He thought he could overhear the mother talking about walking through wall, but he wasn't sure. He slowly walked over to a small girl who was standing off to the side, and tapped her on the shoulder. She quickly turned around and looked surprised to see a small boy standing in front of her. She quickly recognized that it was Harry Potter. The boy she had been waiting to meet all these years. However she was slightly confused because she had seen the Potters walk through the barrier with Victoria already. "Hi. I'm Harry. Um, I'm looking for the Hogwarts Express. Do you know how to get to it?"

Ginny quickly nodded. "You can just walk through with me." She said, grabbing Harry's hand. A spark running through each of their bodies, but both thinking it was simply static electricity. "I'm Ginny, by the way." She said as she dragged him through barrier. Harry just nodded in a dazed manner.

There the two stood staring in awe at the Hogwarts express. "Ginny! Ginny where are you!" A motherly voice was yelling.

"Oh! That's my mum. Hold on, Harry." Ginny said, as she began waving her arms help her mum find her.

Mrs. Weasley came running up to Ginny. "Ginny, don't run off like that!" Mrs. Weasley admonished.

"Sorry mum, but Harry didn't know how to go through the barrier."

"Harry?" Mrs. Weasley asked in confusion.

"Hello, ma'am." Harry said in shy voice, putting out his hand towards Mrs. Weasley.

"Why hello dear! How nice it is to meet you! I am Mrs. Weasley. Are you going to Hogwarts this year?" She quickly replied, while shaking his hand.

Harry nodded his head. "Yeah, this is my first year ma'am."

"Oh how wonderful. My son Ronald is a first year as well." Mrs. Weasley exclaimed and the paused, "Where are your parents dear?"

"They couldn't be here, so they dropped me off at the station."

"Oh." Mrs. Weasley said, clearly confused as to why a parent would do that. However, before she could think about it, she noticed Fred and George causing a ruckus. "I must be off dear. Have a good year!"

"Sorry about my mum. She is a bit over the top." Ginny said, a light pink covering her cheeks.

"Your mum is wonderful. I wish my mum was like that." Harry exclaimed.

Ginny looked at Harry sadly. "You're Harry Potter, right?"

Harry looked surprised, and scared. _How does she know?_ "How—"

"I saw you at Victoria's birthday party three years ago." She said. "I wanted to introduce myself because you looked so sad, but my mum told me it was time to go."

Harry nodded numbly.

"I've been trying to find you at the party since then, but your mum kept saying you were at summer camp."

Harry looked at her with a confused look on his face. "Summer camp?"

"Yeah, in Australia."

Harry put his head down. "I wasn't…"

"I didn't think so."

Harry quickly looked up, and right as he was about say something, the train whistle blew. He redirected the conversation. "So, should we get on the train?" Harry asked.

Ginny suddenly looked very depressed. "I don't get to go to until next year. I'm not old enough." She said dejectedly.

Harry was suddenly extremely depressed as well to hear that Ginny would not be accompanying him. But then an idea popped in his head. "Well, how about I write to you! I'll tell you all about it...and maybe we can be friends. That is…if you want to be friends!" Harry finished a scared tone.

Ginny suddenly hugged him. "That would be wonderful Harry! And of course I'll be your friend. Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know." Harry mumbled softly, secretly relishing the warmth he felt from Ginny's hug.

"You're silly." Ginny giggled. "Well, you should get on the train. Have fun, and write soon!"

"Yeah, I sure will! Thanks Ginny!" Harry said. He quickly ran over to the train, while waving goodbye to his new friend, Ginny, who was waving right back with a smile on her face.

* * *

Harry walked down the halls of the train, looking for an empty compartment for him to sit in. Just as he thought all hope was lost, and every compartment was taken, he found an open one at the end of the last car. He quickly entered, and claimed the room for himself. As he sat alone in his compartment, he wished that Ginny was with him. She was his first real friend, and even then, they had only just met. Yet he felt comfortable around her, which was saying something after all his past experiences. He wished he could be in a compartment with other people, as well, just socializing and having fun. But he was too afraid to do that. As he sat there, wishing he had a friend, he fell into a dreamless sleep.

Harry was rudely awakened a couple of hours later by a loud banging on his compartment door. He groggily got up and slid open the door. "Hello?" he asked, still not fully awake.

"Hi. Yes. I saw you sleeping, and I thought I would wake you up to let you know that will be arriving at Hogwarts soon." The new, bushy haired girl said.

"Thanks." Harry said, wiping at his tired eyes.

"I'm Hermione Granger by they way. I'm a first year. What year are you in?"

"I'm…Harry." He replied, deciding to keep his last name secret as long as possible. "I'm a first year as well."

"What house do you think you will be in? I heard Gryffindor is the best, but Ravenclaw is supposed to be the smartest. I can't decide where I want to go. I know I want the academic challenge, after all I read every book for the year already. But I am just not sure."

Harry couldn't believe how obsessed she was with her house. A house was a house. Everyone was still going to Hogwarts, and that's all that mattered in Harry's mind. "I'm not sure yet. But if you will excuse me, I must put my robes on. Hopefully I will see you around the castle?"

"Oh of course! Yes, I will see you around. Goodbye Harry." With that, Hermione quickly walked away, and left Harry to get dressed for the feast.

* * *

"Firs' Years over here!" A loud voice boomed.

Harry quietly followed the large group of first years as he headed towards the lake. Harry recognized the loud voice as Hagrid, and quickly made himself inconspicuous. He did not want to be recognized any earlier than he had to be, not that it was going to be much longer before his identity was revealed.

The first years quickly traveled across the lake, and were all standing in holding chamber outside the great hall.

"Now children, line up. The sorting is about to begin." A crisp voice said. "Now, I am Professor McGonagall. When I read your name, you will enter the great hall ahead of you to be sorted. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes!" The group of first years chanted.

"Good." Professor McGonagall said as she entered the great hall.

A long song could be heard, as everyone in castle went quiet. As soon as the song ended, McGonagall began calling names. "Abbott, Hannah!"

Hannah left the room, and a little while later, a mysterious voice shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

Harry quickly looked around the big group, and his worst fear was realized. His sister, Victoria was standing a couple of people away from him. He could hear her talking about how wonderful Hogwarts was going to be, and how she couldn't wait to show everyone how good she was at magic. She bragged about how both her parents were new professors this year, her mum was the ancient runes teacher, and her dad was the transfiguration professor. But he was only helping on certain days because of the regular transfiguration professor's busy schedule.

Harry's eyes went wide when he heard that both his parents were professors at the school. He was especially scared about his dad. His dad was the one who liked him the least in the family, and he didn't know why. He knew that Victoria was going to be at school with him, but he had not banked on the fact that his parents would be too. To say he was nervous was putting it lightly. He wasn't sure what he was going to do this year…

Professor McGonagall made her way down the list until she reached Potter. "Potter, Vi—Harry?" She yelled, a hint of confusion in her voice.

'Well here goes nothing…' Harry thought. He suddenly heard a scream from his sister on the other side of the, now much smaller, group. He quickly made his way out to the great hall before his sister could interrogate him.

As he walked out, he realized that the great hall wasn't much better. He quickly noticed that both his mother and father were sitting at the table, along with Dumbledore (the man he would never trust after what he did), and staring at him as he made his way over to the Sorting Hat, trying to avoid all the glares from his "parents."

As he approached the hat, he looked up at Professor McGonagall with a questioning look. "P-put the hat on…" She said, still dumbstruck by the situation. She had, after all, heard the story about Harry from Dumbledore.

Harry sat down on the stool, and placed the hat on top of his head. Immediately he felt something prodding his mind, and raised all of his shields, until he heard a voice. "_My, you are quite protective of your memories. May I please take a glance at your character?_"

Harry slowly opened a gate for the hat, and allowed him to see selected images of his character.

"_My, my, well, as it stands I do not believe I have enough information to make a decision about you, young Harry. I will trust you with the decision. From what I have seen, you will fit in any of the houses. But who knows what I have not seen. What house would prefer to be situated in?"_

"_Well, I might as well try and make my parents proud…so Gryffindor, sir."_

"_So it is. _GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry quickly took the hat off, placed it back on the bench. Harry looked up at the professors table with a smile on his face, hoping that his parents would be proud of him since he was a Gryffindor just like them. However, James still had a look of anger on his face, and Lily still looked surprised and scared. Not a single ounce of pride or happiness. The only clapping was from the muggle-born students, not understanding the levity of the situation. As Harry made his way over to the Gryffindor table, he saw Hermione waving him down, with a nice seat next to her. He figured, '_why not?'_ He took the proffered seat next to the bushy hair girl.

Right after Harry sat down, Professor McGonagall called his sister out. "Potter, Victoria!"

As soon as the hat touched Victoria's hair, it immediately shouted "GRYFFINDOR!" There was a giant applause from the Gryffindor table as Victoria happily skipped over, and sat next to two redhead twins that made space for her. Harry could see his parents gleaming with pride. He was sorted into Gryffindor too, but all he got were glares from his parents. Why did they hate him so much he? He couldn't understand it.

Professor McGonagall called the rest of the first years for sorting. After, Dumbledore quickly stood up and gave a short speech. "Welcome new students. I have a few words I would like to share with you all: gumber, bubblewart, sniveltut, ingrand. Alas, before this new year can truly begin, I must warn all students that the Forbidden Forest is exactly that, forbidden. Also, the third floor corridor is closed to students. Do not enter unless willing to lose your life. Now, let us fill our stomachs." Cheers quickly erupted with the end of Dumbledore's speech, and food quickly appeared on the table.

As Harry was eating the most filling meal he had eaten in years, Hermione turned to him. "So, you are related to Victoria, the girl who lived? Why didn't you say anything on the train?"

There was suddenly a sour taste in Harry's mouth, and no matter how much of the delectable pumpkin juice he drank, he knew it wouldn't' go away with the direction this conversation was headed. "Yeah, she is my sister."

"Then why weren't you sitting with her on the train?" Hermione said, giving Harry a calculating stare.

He quickly looked away. "She is a girl…?" Harry said trying to get out of it.

"I'm a girl." She replied indignantly.

Harry sighed. "It's really complicated, ok? I don't want to get into it."

"Is that why everyone went silent?"

Harry's frustration was now mounting. "Look, I said I don't want to talk about it. If you want to know why people looked at me funny, go ask Victoria herself. I'm sure she would be more than happy to tell you."

Hermione was about to say something, until she saw the vicious glare Victoria was giving Harry. She realized that maybe it would actually be better to continue this at a later time. She decided to try and change the topic. "Well, do you have any subjects you are particularly interested in?"

"I like potions."

"I heard a terrible rumor that the potions master hates Gryffindors, but I'm sure that isn't true." Hermione said waving her hand. "A teacher can't play favorites. It's just unfair."

"Life isn't always fair." Harry mumbled.

"What was that Harry?"

"Nothing. I'm sure he is just a hard teacher, and the students don't want to do the work that is demanded of them."

"Finally someone understands me!" Hermione exclaimed and began ranting on and on about work ethic and determination in school. Harry nodded at the appropriate times, but was lost in thought as to what was going to happen after feast.

That was quickly answered as the feast ended, and the food suddenly disappeared. Professor McGonagall was walking down the aisle of the Great Hall. As she passed Harry, she dropped a note in front of him, and began announcing for everyone to follow his or her Prefects to the common room.

Harry quickly opened the note, and read:

_Please Stay in the Great Hall Until the Students Have Left._

_--Albus Dumbledore_

Harry turned to Hermione. "I'll see you in the common room later."

Hermione looked confused. "Aren't you coming back with us? If you don't, you will get lost!"

"One of the professors wants to talk to me..." He said with a somewhat scared look in his eyes. He purposely chose not to specify which professor either, wanting Hermione to think he was going to talk to Professor McGonagall without actually lying to her.

"Ok. Well, I will wait in the common room for you then."

"No, don't worry about it." Harry said quickly, not wanting to bother her. "I will just see you at breakfast tomorrow."

"If you're sure." Hermione said slowly.

"I'm sure." And with that Hermione left with the rest of the group, leaving Harry and, unsurprisingly, Victoria alone in the Great Hall with Professor Dumbledore and his parents. Everyone, except Dumbledore, seemed to be glaring at Harry. Dumbledore seemed to be looking at Harry with a concerned and calculating look.

Magically, Harry was probably strong enough to hide from Dumbledore and the others, but mentally he couldn't do it. He was too scared. He knew this was going to happen, but it didn't change the fact that he was still scared. After all, his parents hated him, Dumbledore tried to seal away his magic, Victoria hated him, and his parents had given him to a muggle family that beat him. He may be a powerful wizard, even at the age of 11, but mentally he still only 11, and already he had suffered by the hand of his own parents.

Dumbledore was the first to speak. "Alas, I believe we should adjourn to my office in order to conduct this rather personal meeting." And with that he strode off towards his office, the rest of the group in tow.

"Reese's Peanut Butter Cup," Dumbledore said to the gargoyle, revealing a path to his office.

Dumbledore sat down in his chair, grabbed a bowl of candy, and held it out to Harry. "Lemon drop, Harry?"

Harry, not wanting to be rude, grabbed one, and popped it in his mouth. "Thank you, sir." He said, but quickly noticed that Dumbledore had put the lemon drops away, without offering them to anyone else. '_Great. I wonder what the surprise in this little treat is." _Harry thought sadly. Harry slowly looked around to see his father looking ready to burst, his mother looking disappointed, and Victoria looking frustrated.

"Now Harry, it is quite a surprise to see you here today.' Dumbledore said. "I was not expecting my spell to wear off. How did you—"

"I am sure he used some dark magic!" James interrupted. "Why are we having this conversation, Albus? Let's just send him back to the Dursley's, where this cretin belongs!"

"Yeah! Home has been so much more fun without him!" Victoria quipped.

Lily just nodded.

Nobody seemed to notice the scared look on Harry's face. He didn't want to go back to the Dursley's. He couldn't handle it. If it hadn't been for his training, he probably would not have survived the 3 years there.

Albus quickly waved his hands for everyone to settle down. "Now, now, let's hear what Harry has to say. Now, how did you break the spell Harry?"

"I didn't, sir." Harry said, then he felt the sudden urge to explain. "It-it…I found out when I got my Hogwarts letter." Harry finished, having strained himself to lie. '_Great, a truth serum, just what I needed.' _Harry thought. He noticed Dumbledore smiling at him. Harry quickly focused his mind, and blocked as many connections between his mind and the serum as he could.

"Liar!" James exclaimed.

Dumbledore quietly shook his head. "Hold on James. Let him finish his story."

Harry looked up at Dumbledore, quickly realizing what finishing his story meant. Harry, while trying to protect his minds on two fronts, he tried to flash images to Dumbledore of his magic free life at number 4 Privet Drive, images of him doing little chores, working in the garden, sitting at the park, and doing schoolwork. He was visibly sweating from the strain on his mind. The connection soon broke, and Harry continued to speak. "I thought I didn't have any magic either, until I got the letter in the mail. I was really excited, so I went to Diagon Alley the day before the train and bought all my clothes and books."

"And how did you get to Diagon Alley? Dark magic?" James insinuated.

"I took the knight bus." Harry said quietly.

Before James could cut in, Dumbledore ended the debate. "It seems his story checks out."

James audibly harrumphed.

"However, I do not feel comfortable with your stay here at Hogwarts."

* * *

_A/N:_

_And now for a quick few answers to reviews!_

_, _

_For those of you wondering how much I am going to stick to canon events, I am going to use the basic plotline and major events in this story such as the Philospher's Stone and such, however Ginny and Harry will be friends early, and there will be different groups._

_Codyesh2: I did not have Harry run into his family because I decided to have him go to Diagon Alley the same day the Potter's held their party so that I could work Ginny into the story more fluidly._

_I hope that this chapter is well received!_


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: Hey guys, I hope you enjoy this chapter. I'm sorry it's not as long as the last one, but I still feel that it is a step up in word from previous chapters. Hopefully I can string together another 5,000 word chapter next week or so. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. And by the way, thank you for all the reviews! I am glad to see that I have over 100 reviews, and that this story is being so well received! I'm trying to update as quick as possible and I look forward to hearing new ideas from everybody! They really do help me, especially now, in coming up with my rather dynamic plotline I am working with._

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything in regards to the Harry Potter Universe.**

Love in a Shadow

**Chapter 05: An Accepted Understanding**

_Last Chapter_

_Dumbledore stated, in regards to Harry's story, "It seems his story checks out."_

_James audibly harrumphed. _

"_However, I do not feel comfortable with your stay here at Hogwarts."_

A new voice interrupted Dumbledore. "You cannot deny the boy his right to a fair education, Dumbledore."

Dumbledore quickly turned around; surprise written all over his face, and Dumbledore was rarely surprised. "Godric?"

"He is right, Headmaster. He may not be a pureblood, but in your rules he has every right to his education." This time it was Salazar who spoke; Rowena and Helga nodded their approval.

Dumbledore knew that he could not defy the portraits. They were the founders after all, and this was a decision that even Salazar and Godric agreed upon. "It appears that I am put in a rather precarious situation, Mr. Potter, and you have been granted the right to attend here."

Harry's face quickly broke into a huge grin, nearly reaching both of his ears. "Really! I can?"

"He can?" James and Victoria both jumped in, exclaiming in rage, disgust.

Dumbledore sighed heavily. "The founders have spoken. It is their school after all. And while this has never happened, I have no choice but to obey them. However," Dumbledore looked at Harry, "You are required to give me your wand after all your classes, and it will be returned to you at breakfast in the morning. You are also not allowed to participate in any school activities, and I will be keeping a constant watch on you." A serious tone clearly present in his voice.

Harry nodded enthusiastically, and he swore he could see the founders smirking in their portrait at Dumbledore's rules. Harry quickly handed over his wand. He didn't care about his wand, he could do wandless magic if need be. He just wanted to be at Hogwarts. After all the stories from Godric, Rowena, and Salazar, it was like a dream come true.

"Well, don't expect any sympathy from me." James said angrily. "Come on Victoria, I will take you to your common room."

Lily looked at Harry for a second, apparently she couldn't find it in her to speak to her son. She simply turned away from Harry and left.

Dumbledore looked sternly at Harry. "Do not get in the way of Victoria, Harry. And do not let jealousy get the best of you. She is more important than you, and I will have no problem evicting you from Hogwarts if you try to interfere with her destiny for your own glory. Now go back to your common room."

Harry had no idea where the common room was, but he wasn't going to ask Dumbledore that. He quickly left the office. However, it would appear that he still hadn't escaped hell.

* * *

Harry had been wandering around for a good hour, when he finally exclaimed, "I'm totally lost! How am I supposed to know where the common room is?"

As soon as he finished that statement, a golden path seemed to light up in front of him. It looked as if it were directing him. Harry decided he had nothing to lose at this point, and quickly followed the path back to the common room.

It wasn't long before he arrived at a portrait of a fat lady. "Great. A portrait. That doesn't help me. I need to get into the Gryffindor common room!" And with that last statement, the portrait of swung open, revealing the common room.

Harry was exhausted. He headed over to the stairs he assumed were to the dorms. However he was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Where were you? Your sister got back over an hour ago!" Hermione exclaimed.

"I thought I told you not to wait for me." Harry said quietly.

"I was worried about you." She said. "How was your meeting?"

"It was fine."

"What did you talk about?"

"It's not important." Harry said stiffly. "I'm tired. I'm going to bed. I will see you in the morning." Harry quickly left and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

* * *

Harry spent the next few weeks, going through classes just as planned. Receiving his wand at breakfast, and handing it back after classes. By now the rumor on Harry's wand control had spread throughout Hogwarts. Every single student knew about how Harry had his magic locked away, and how he didn't live with the Potters anymore. This had left little Harry with few friends, and many enemies. In fact, Harry only had one friend at Hogwarts, Hermione. But she asked too many questions about his life for them to be close friends. He was happy, however, that she was still willing to talk to him, even if briefly, after hearing the rumors about him. The relationship had been strained from that, but it was still there, hanging by a thread, and that was enough for Harry, who was desperate for love, friendship, and acceptance, even though he was somewhat scared of it (after his experience at the Dursley's).

Harry remembered the first letter he sent to Ginny, his only real friend in the world.

_Dear Ginny,_

_Hello. It's Harry. I hope you are doing well. I promised you that I would write, so here is my letter. I don't really know what to say because I have never written anyone. We used to have pen pals in my school, but my Aunt and Uncle wouldn't let me have one. And yes, I wasn't at summer camp like my mum told you. I was living my Aunt and Uncle, who are muggles. But I don't think it is a situation I can explain in a letter. Maybe next year, when you are at Hogwarts, I can explain it all to you. And also, there is a rumor that I am an evil wizard, but I'm not Ginny, I swear! I don't know why people think I'm bad all the time, but I really try not to be. But if you don't believe, and you don't want to be my friend anymore, I understand. Most people don't believe me._

_Hogwarts has been a lot of fun so far. I got sorted into Gryffindor, the same house as your brother Ron. We haven't had classes, but I'm really excited to learn all about the different subjects. I think I have missed a lot of the wizarding world since I have been living with my Aunt and Uncle for the past three years._

_I hope everything is going well for you! I look forward to hear from you! _

_Sincerely,_

_Harry Potter_

* * *

_Dear Harry,_

_Harry, I know your not an evil wizard. You were so nice when I met you, and I knew you were sincere. I swear I can feel that your not lying, I'm sorry if that sounds weird but it's true. So, unfortunately, I guess we are stuck being friends. You can't get rid of me that easily!_

_Anyways, it sounds extremely interesting, living with muggles that is! I can't wait hear all about it next year at Hogwarts. It's so exciting that you got sorted and are in Hogwarts! I can't wait to go there next year. I'm so bored here at home. My mum is making cook with her and do all these chores around the house because it's the only way she can keep me busy. I really miss all my brothers, especially Bill. He is the oldest, and he works in Egypt. So I hardly get to see him because he is so far away, and he is always the nicest to me! Hopefully something exciting will happen around here though. I am about to go out of my mind because of this lack of activity! _

_  
Write back soon!_

_Your Friend,_

_Ginny_

* * *

_Dear Ginny,_

_You have no idea how much that means to me. And I know what you mean. I can feel that you believe me._

_Anyways, not much has happened here. Classes are really fun for me. Except transfiguration is really hard. But I am doing really well anyways. I spend most of my time studying in the common room, but I have heard some pretty interesting stories. Apparently, someone put a permanent sticking charm on a toilet seat, and a third year Ravenclaw was stuck to the seat for hours. The professors couldn't go in because the student was too embarrassed about the situation! I'm not sure how they finally got the person off the seat in the end, but I don't think the student was very happy about it._

_I hope everything is going well back home._

_Your Friend,_

_Harry_

* * *

That was the last letter he sent Ginny. He tried not to mention the fact that he didn't have any friends, or that he couldn't really do anything exciting because of his restrictions. He wanted Ginny to be excited to come to Hogwarts, not afraid. Hogwarts was a great place, he was just a unique exception, destined to live his life in Hell, it seemed. And the only reason that his transfiguration class was hard was because his father taught it every other lesson because of external commitments Professor McGonagall had made, something having to do with the Wizengamot.

* * *

On Halloween night, as Harry was eating dinner alone, at the end of his house table, Professor Quirrell ran into the Great Hall, fear covering his features. He ran up to the table of professors, and exclaimed, "There is a troll in the dungeons!" He paused, catching his breath. "I thought you should know." And he promptly fainted after that, hitting the floor with a resounding thud.

Harry's mind immediately went into overdrive. Previously, he had seen Hermione heading towards the dungeons whilst crying. He didn't know why she was crying, but he did know he was the person who could help the least.

"Everyone to their rooms!" Dumbledore boomed, his eyes connecting with Harry for a minute, and Harry gazing right back to show he had nothing to hide. However, as soon as Dumbledore looked away, Harry made a discreet exit form the large group heading to Gryffindor common room. He rushed to the dungeons while the teachers were caught in the mayhem.

As soon as Harry was about to pass the bathroom, he could hear a loud crash, and Hermione scream. He immediately turned and rushed in to find the giant troll standing in front of a cowering Hermione, with his club raised over his head.

Harry sprung into action, casting a powerful shield over Hermione as he watched the troll try to strike Hermione. Hermione screamed in horror, waiting for her life to end. However, when it never came she looked up to see the troll's club stuck against an invisible barrier.

Harry took this opportunity to incapacitate the troll. He conjured thick ropes that wrapped around the troll's ankles, and then cast _Wingardium Leviosa_ on the club, and swung the club into the troll's head, knocking him into the wall behind him as he toppled over, and successfully removing the threat.

Hermione quickly looked over to see Harry standing there. She would have hugged him if her body had not been immobilized from the trauma and shcok of the experience. Right as she was about to say something, she saw him put a finger to his lips, and disappeared with a small smile painted on his face. She didn't know what he was doing, but before she could think about it, Victoria and Ron Weasley came running into the room.

Harry watched with contempt as Victoria and Ron surveyed the room. They were clearly surprised to find the troll incapacitated. Then the two looked at Hermione. "Thank goodness we found you Hermione!" Victoria exclaimed.

Before Hermione could say anything, Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall walked in the room. Professor Dumbledore quickly surveyed the scene, and turned to Victoria. "Did you incapacitate this troll, dear?"

Ron answered for her. "Of course she did! You should have seen it!"

"Yeah, it was really easy professor!" Victoria quickly agreed. "We saved Hermione from the monstrosity. She was so lucky Ron and I got here in time."

Hermione couldn't believe what she was hearing. But she was in too much shock to say anything.

"Indeed she is, Victoria. I will award 25 points each for your exemplary bravery, you two!" Dumbledore.

"And 10 points for sheer dumb luck." Professor McGonagall added.

"Thank you professors!" Ron and Victoria chanted.

"Now, let us head back the common room." Dumbledore said, and then looked at Hermione. "Do you need to go to the hospital wing, Ms. Granger?"

Hermione stood up and shook her head. "No, I'm fine professor."

"Excellent." Dumbledore cheered merrily, and headed off back to the Gryffindor common room.

Harry quickly followed along.

As soon as the group reached the common room, Harry snuck in with them, and sat on a couch in the corner and made himself visible again, pretending he had been there the entire time.

As soon as the got into the common room, Dumbledore began searching for Harry again, and Harry expected this. He got up from his chair, and headed over to a table by the fireplace to get a different book, and look like he had been there the entire time.

Once Dumbledore found Harry, he bid his farewells, and him and McGonagall left. Everybody began swarming Victoria and Ron to ask what happened. Of course, the two of them launched into an elaborate story of how they valiantly battled the troll to save Hermione's life. And during all of this commotion, Hermione quickly made her way over to Harry, who was still sitting in his corner, reading his book.

"Harry?" Hermione asked softly.

Harry looked up from his book to see Hermione. "Yes?"

"Thank you."

"I'm sorry, but I don't seem to know what you are talking about."

"Harry!"

"What?"

"This is important!" Hermione exclaimed. Harry quickly cast a privacy and silence charm. "And…why did you help me? I haven't been much of a friend to you lately…"

"I don't want people to get hurt, so don't take this personally. I would have done it for anyone…except for Voldemort and his followers." Harry said softly. "And, just because everybody thinks I am some evil, soon to be, dark lord doesn't mean that I actually am."

Hermione nodded. "Fine. But how did you disappear?"

"I cast a spell." Harry said, and quickly began reading a book.

"And where did you learn this spell?" Her curiosity was killing her.

"A book." Harry said. It wasn't far from the truth. Merlin was a walking encyclopedia of spells and techniques. "It's been a long day, and I think I am going to go to bed. I will see you tomorrow." HE quickly strode off to his bedroom. Having to disillusion himself with a spell powerful enough, such that Dumbledore could not see his magical aura, had drained Harry of his energy.

Hermione huffed in frustration. She was perplexed as to where Harry learned these complex spells, but it seemed that he wasn't willing to share. She did know one thing, however; Harry Potter was not an evil wizard.

* * *

As soon as Harry woke up the next morning, he rushed down to the owlery to send a letter to Ginny.

_Dear Ginny,_

_I had my first real adventure at Hogwarts yesterday! There was an escaped troll in the dungeons, and I saved Hermione from it. She was using the bathroom when the Troll came. I got there just in time, and knocked it out. It was really scary. Hermione almost got injured. After I dealt with the troll, Victoria and your brother Ron showed up. I quickly disappeared after that, and Victoria and Ron got all the credit. But it didn't matter to me. I don't care about that stuff. I'm just happy that Hermione didn't get hurt. She is my closest friend here at Hogwarts. You can meet her when you come next year! I think you will make really good friends._

_I hope everything at home is good!_

_Your Friend,_

_Harry Potter_

* * *

The response arrived the next day.

_Dear Harry,_

_WHAT WERE YOU THINKING! You are the most ridiculous, stupidest, most inconsiderate prat I have ever met! What do you mean you're happy Hermione didn't get hurt? YOU COULD HAVE GOTTEN HURT!! I have no idea what is going through your head mister! _

_Anyways, we got a letter from Ron saying how he beat the troll with Victoria, and mum sent him a nice howler—_

Harry soon heard a loud voice shouting at Ron.

_RONALD BILIUS WEASLEY! NEVER EVER DO THAT AGAIN! THAT IS WHAT THE PROFESSORS ARE THERE FOR! LISTEN TO THEM AND DON'T GO TRAIPZING AROUND LOOKING FOR TROUBLE! IF I FIND OUT YOU DID SOMETHING LIKE THIS AGAIN, I WILL REMOVE YOU FROM HOGWARTS MYSELF!_

_Now, your father and I look forward to seeing for Christmas._

_Love,_

_Mum and Dad._

Harry continued reading his letter.

–_so hopefully that will be a little bit of excitement for breakfast. He really needs to learn how to keep his big mouth shut. I can't believe he would also say he defeated the troll just to be famous. He is so pigheaded sometimes. I hope classes are still going well._

_Your Friend,_

_Ginny_

Harry felt terrible after the letter. He realized he had made a big mistake by trying to take on the troll. He made Ginny angry, and he didn't want to do that.

* * *

_Dear Ginny,_

_I'm sorry for being so stupid. I understand that you don't want to be friends with someone like me. I'm sorry I made you so angry._

_  
__-Harry_

* * *

Ginny frowned as she read the letter. Sure she was mad at him, but she was mad because she cared about him. Couldn't he see that?

_Dear Harry,_

_What are you talking about? I still want to be friends with you! I was just worried about you. I don't want you to get hurt Harry! Once again, don't you dare think you can get rid of me that easily Mr. Potter! Just because I got mad at you does not mean I don't want to be friends with you. Besides, if we weren't friends, I would have nothing to do! Ron never writes me (not that I care), Fred and George are too busy playing pranks on kids, Percy has too many prefect duties, and Bill and Charlie are in Egypt and Romania. Without you, I feel like I am all alone. Everyone else seems too busy to pay attention to me. So please don't stop being friends with me when I want to keep being friends with you so badly! _

_Love,_

_Ginny_

* * *

Harry was extremely relieved to read Ginny's response. Ginny was his only friend. She was the thing that kept him going. She was the one person that he could turn when things were getting tough for him, and he would never purposely jeopardize that relationship.

_Dear Ginny,_

_Thanks. I guess I just didn't realize what I was doing. I am sorry I made you worry. I'll try not to do that again. And I would never want to get rid of you Ginny! You are my best friend!_

_Your Friend,_

_Harry_

* * *

After the troll incident, the year continued like before. Harry turned in his wand every day, and never did anything social aside from sending letters to Ginny and avoiding Hermione's pestering questions. The year passed slowly after the troll incident for Harry as the days turned into monotony for Harry as the end of term approached. He just wanted it to be second year so that Ginny would be there and he would have someone who he could talk to, and not someone who would constantly pester him. Until then however, writing letters to Ginny and studying for his final exams would have to keep him occupied.

* * *

Exams had just finished. Everyone in Gryffindor was packing his or her bags in preparation to finally go home for winter break and have a nice vacation with their family. Ginny had been telling him how excited she was to see everyone coming home for Christmas. Harry, however, was dreading his holidays. He had a few very long weeks ahead of him with absolutely nothing to do. He told Ginny that he was very excited for the holidays, but in reality he was being forced to stay at Hogwarts, not that he had anywhere else to go, under the every watchful eye of Albus Dumbledore.

The Headmaster had taken away Harry's wand for the entire winter holiday, and limited his roam of the castle to Gryffindor common room. If he were to go anywhere else, he had to get it cleared by Professor McGonagall, whose office was right next to the portrait of the Fat Lady. All Harry could think about was this was going to be a very long and very boring few weeks…

* * *

_A/N: And now for a few quick answers to reviews:_

_Nyeshet: First off, thank you for the wonderful review! You have helped me see so many of my flaws in my plotline! As time passes, I am hoping to fill some of the holes in here, and I will probably have to repost / rewrite chapters soon with some minor changes and additions to help fill out the story. Right now, I am just trying to get this story out. Next chapter I will focus on teacher student relationships more. Right now I just did some building with Hermione and Ginny._

_Comet Moon: The reason he hides the abuse is because of embarrassment, and he doesn't want people to think he is weak and so on and so forth. I think that it's a psychological thing and many children who do suffer from these horrible and heinous acts are often times embarrassed about their situation and would rather not have people find. I'm really kind of trying to paint Harry as the 11 year old, not that strong 16 year old in an 11 year old body that is prevalent in many fics. He is still young, naïve, and vulnerable in these early years of Hogwarts. This should partly answer Jabarber69's review as well. I had him stumbling in the interview to show adolescence. He isn't supposed to be the strong character you see in the seventh book just yet. He has a lot of growing and experiencing left to do before he can reach that level of maturity._

_Once again, thank you for all the reviews! I am glad to see that so many people are enjoying my story. I'm enjoying writing it, and I really did not expect to receive such a welcoming and supportive group of readers. However, I do feel like this is my weakest chapter, and feel free to tell me that in your reviews. I think that I am going to have to come back and flesh this out a little bit later on, but I wanted to at least continue the story, rather than not do anything with my story. Hopefully you will accept it for what it is._


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Hey all

_A/N: Hey all! Sorry this took so long! I had some really important swim meets and then I was in Hawaii for vacation. I really hope you enjoy this chapter. I think that it is a good one, and it really starts to fill some of the holes in my story! Also, thank you so much for all the reviews and all the people that are reading my story! I am extremely honored by all the wonderful comments I am receiving regarding this story. I didn't realize how popular this would be! Thanks again, and Please Remember To Read and Review!_

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything pertaining to the franchise.**

* * *

**Chapter 06: Christmas Wonders**

Harry lay on his bed, alone in his empty dorm room. It was the first night of Christmas break, and while he was enjoying the serenity of not having to deal with everyone eyeing him like he would begin murdering students any second, he couldn't help but miss the company of Hermione. He knew he wanted her as a friend, but he couldn't help but push her away. It was second nature to him. He just didn't know how to have friends. _Maybe_, he thought, _I should just tell her that. Perhaps I should just explain that I don't know how to have a friend. The only friend I have is Ginny, and she is just different than anyone I have ever met before, so she doesn't count…_ And with that final thought, Harry drifted off into sleep.

_Dream_

"_Ah, Harry. It's so good to see you back tonight." Merlin said, an excited glint sparkling in his eyes._

"_I'm here every night, Merlin." Harry said, having grown accustomed to and comfortable with the founders in his dreams._

"_Alas, that is true." Merlin said looking thoughtful. "But, tonight is different than all the other nights!"_

"_Why?" _

"_Because tonight,' Merlin said, "We finish your phoenix transformation!"_

_Harry began jumping in excitement. They had been working on this for months. It had taken a lot of hard work and focus, but Harry was ready. He wanted to be able to fly so much. He wanted to be able to escape the castle walls finally, and have a little freedom for himself. Something he has never had in his life thus far._

"_Now, you remember what you have to do—"_

"_I have to clear my mind, find my center, and see myself within my creature."_

"_Excellent. Now, once you find yourself within the creature, imagine your being harmonizing and unifying with the creature, and make sure your feel the magic of yourself synchronizing with the creature."_

_Harry nodded his head in understanding._

"_I will use a spell I developed for teaching long ago to help guide your magic the first time. It will make your first transformation quicker, and subsequent transformations much easier. Now, clear your mind and find your center."_

_Harry did as he was told. As he found his center, he saw a beautiful, bright green phoenix appear before him. It had black eyes, a ruffled crown, and a white patch shaped like a lightning bolt on its tail feathers. Harry focused on seeing himself in the phoenix, and melding with it. Unifying his soul with its._

_As he did this, he felt the magic flow through him, he could feel his body changing, he was becoming lighter, and he could tell that his senses were becoming sharper, especially his eyesight. Then he felt the sense of change ebb away._

"_Bravo!" Merlin shouted. "Bravo, Harry! You changed by yourself. You didn't even need my help!"_

_Harry looked up, and he could see the twinkle in Merlin's eyes, much like that of Dumbledore's when he was proud of Victoria. In fact, all the founders seemed to have a heavy twinkle in their eye._

"_Your phoenix is Beautiful, Dear!" Rowena said softly. Godric and Salazar nodded._

_Harry bobbed his head, flapped his wings and flew a few circles around the room. He then focused on human form and changed back with a large grin plastered on his face. He had broken at least one bar of his hideous cage…_

_End Dream_

Harry woke up early that morning; the excitement from his new achievement was making him jumpy. He was so enthralled with the idea of flying on his own that he practically transformed into his phoenix as he hopped out of bed. It didn't matter that he really had no idea how to fly; once he entered his phoenix form, flight became natural. He quickly flapped his wings, and flew around the room a few times (which didn't take long, considering how large he was). He soon flew towards the closed window, where he then transformed back into his human form in order to open the window. He was dying to know what it would be like to fly freely outside in the clouds and blue sky.

As he exited the dormitory, he flapped his wings and gained velocity as he soared through the open sky. As he flew in large circles above the rooftops of the castle, he soon ran into a rather unique acquaintance.

"_Good morning my young fledgling." _The voice spoke.

"_Fawkes?" _ Harry asked.

"_Correct."_

"_What are you doing out here? Did Professor Dumbledore send you?"_

"_I am here on my own accord, and out of the brotherhood of the Phoenix. Dumbledore knows nothing of this meeting, nor will he ever learn anything of this meeting. I am here as Phoenix to help a new fledgling learn his way in the world." _Fawkes saidin their mental communiqué.

"_Well, thanks!" _Harry said, relieved to have heard that Dumbledore didn't know, and that he would be able to learn more about his Phoenix powers.

"_It is but an honor to help a Phoenix as unique as yourself learn the traditions of our ways." _Fawkes said in a polite tone. "_This training, while teaching you the magic power and traditions of the Phoenix culture, will also help you master your magical powers of your other magical forms with much less training."_

"_But how did you know I had multiple forms."_

Fawkes seemed to be smirking, even though Harry knew Phoenixes could not make facial expressions. "_It is but one of the many advantages of being a Phoenix. Fear not young fledgling; I will teach you the way of aural sight. However, first let us begin with our affinity and control of fire."_

Harry trilled in excitement, as he perched next to Fawkes atop one of the numerous chimneys of the magnificent Castles.

"_Flaming is much like that of apparating. You simply must picture your destination, and you will yourself to that location. However, when you will yourself, you must call upon your fire element. It is that fire magic that transport you there"_

"_Cool!" _Harry responded in excitement.

"_There are no wards that can stop you from reaching your destination; however, apparition wards and portkey wards will cause you to use more magic, and in turn drain you of more energy than unhindered travel." _Fawkes informed. "_So let us fly to the Forbidden Forest in order to practice our flame travel unimpeded." _And with that they quickly flew off toward the treetops of the Forbidden Forest.

"_Now fledgling, imagine your destination to be some way point atop this forest, and call upon your fire magic to take you there."_

Harry knew he could do this. After all, he could teleport already, so this shouldn't be much harder. Harry imagined his location to be a little ways to the left of him, and as he imagined arriving there, he searched for the fire burning in his heart to take him there.

Suddenly there was a flash of fire, and a second flash of fire appeared to the left of the original, with Harry hovering in its wake. "_I did it, Fawkes!" _Harry exclaimed.

Fawkes trilled in excitement. "_Wonderful job! I was not expecting you to learn so fast. Now, our time is near done, so quickly fly back to your nest, and you will receive notice from me when to meet again._"

And so the training session ended, and Harry returned to prison. However, he at least had a smile on his face for the first time in a long time

* * *

It was Christmas morning at the Potters, and the sun hadn't even risen at Potter Manor; however, the early morning did not seem to hinder Victoria's excitement for Christmas, and more importantly, for her presents to have arrived. While Victoria is normally a late riser, Christmas was one of the few days that she had absolutely no qualms about getting up before the sun even rose.

Victoria jumped out of bed; she was unable to sleep because of her excitement, and quickly threw her door open. She ran out into the hall in her pajamas screaming, "IT'S CHRISTMAS! EVERYBODY WAKE UP, IT'S TIME FOR ME TO OPEN MY PRESENTS!"

Three nearby doors slowly creaked open, and four people groggily walked into the hall after being disrupted from their slumber by the ruckus of Victoria.

"Hurry up!" Victoria shouted at the four of them. "I want _my_ presents!" she whined as she ran down the stairs, towards the Christmas tree.

By the time the four other adults had made it down to the Christmas tree with their steaming tea in hand, Victoria had already stacked her forty or so presents neatly in front of her, while leaving the other presents precariously strewn across the floor behind her.

"Finally! You guys took forever!" Victoria exclaimed angrily. "Can I open my presents already?"

Lily and James laughed quietly. "Of course you can, princess." Lily said in a sweet voice, while James continued laughing quietly.

As Victoria savagely tore through her presents, the four adults made their attempt to open their gifts, searching for their presents through the large mess created by Victoria only moments ago.

Victoria had received presents ranging from the most expensive and fashionable clothes and perfumes to Dark Art detectors, spell books, even a little kitten because her owl was too boring since all he did was bring letters to people. Even as she opened the presents, her face only showed the emotion of expectancy, not excitement nor gratitude. To say she was spoiled was to put it lightly.

After they all opened their presents, Lily began serving their breakfast, and began talking amicably over the delicious meal that had been prepared. And once they were finished, Victoria turned to ask a question of one the members of the table.

"Uncle Remus," Victoria asked with a puppy dog face, "Will you take me to Diagon Alley today? I need to get more clothes!"

Remus emitted a chuckle. "Of course, dear. I just hope your favorite stores are open!"

"They better be!" She exclaimed.

"Well, you better go get ready, because I am almost finished here, and you want to go right away don't you?"

"I sure do!" She yelled as she got up from her chair and bolted to her room (grabbing some of her new clothes on the way up).

* * *

There were only three occupants left in the Potter household. Remus had taken Victoria with him to go buy more clothes for already bursting closet.

"So, I have been hearing some interesting rumors."

James, who was cleaning dishes with Lily, quickly turned around. "What have you been hearing, Sirius?" James asked, picking up on the solemn tone in Sirius' voice.

"I hear that Harry is attending Hogwarts."

"That would be true." James spat. Lily quickly grabbed James' hand. Needless to say, they had been expecting this. It was only a matter of time before Sirius found out. They had been afraid to tell Sirius, because he was Harry's godfather, and when they had told him that they had to give him to Petunia, he was furious. He hadn't even gotten to say goodbye. And while their friendship had recovered, Sirius had never completely gotten over it. Harry was, in all practicalities, dead to Sirius.

"Aside from the fact that you didn't even bother to tell me" Sirius raged, "why isn't he here? He should be celebrating Christmas with his family! He isn't a squib like you said, yet you still won't let him back in!"

It was Lily who answered this time. "Sirius, I know this is painful. It's painful for me to, but we can't bring Harry here—"

"Of course you can!" Sirius seethed. "He is your son! And I doubt that wretched sister of yours even wants him at her house!"

Lily looked down at the floor, clearly finding something at her feet very interesting. "Sirius, there is something we didn't tell you about Harry."

"What—What are you talking about, James?"

"Harry was never a squib—"

Sirius' face showed only confusion. "Why did you send him to the Dursley's then?"

"I found him talking to a snake one day in the garden…" And James continued to tell the story of how Dumbledore put the magic inhibiting spell on Harry, and how he must have used some form of dark magic to break the spell, and all their theories pertaining to the dangers of their son being and uprising Dark Lord.

"You can't be serious!" Sirius exclaimed in disbelief.

"Don't you see Sirius!" James yelled back. "He is evil!"

"He is your son James! He is family! How can you do that your son! He was only eight years old!"

"And he is a parselmouth!"

"So? Did he ever try to hurt any of you? No!" Sirius looked down in shame at his last comment. "James, I should have never listened to you all those years ago, but I was blinded my loyalty to you."

"What are you talking about Sirius?" Lily asked.

"I should have been a better godfather. I should have been there for Harry, even after you told me I couldn't give Harry any attention because Victoria was the one that deserved it." Sirius looked at Lily, then James. "All he wanted was love from his family!"

"And look at what he is now! A little monster!" James yelled.

"I'm sorry James, but I don't think that I can associate myself with you anymore. I'm sorry, but you guys won't be seeing me anymore." Sirius said sadly.

"Sirius, wait—" Lily screeched, but he was already gone.

Lily turned to James, "Did we really do the right thing? What if Sirius is right?" She asked, with tears in her eyes.

"Dumbledore is right. He has been through this before. He knows exactly what he is doing, Lils." James said confidently as he reached out and pulled her towards him in comfort.

* * *

Ginny had woken up to the smell of a wonderful breakfast feast that her mother was preparing. Christmas morning was always one of Ginny's favorite meals her mother made every year. Ginny happily slid out of bed, brushed her hair lightly, and walked downstairs in her pajamas for some delicious breakfast. When she arrived, everyone was at the table already eating. Go figure, all the boys had gotten up early because of the feast that was being offered to them. Ginny quickly found a seat and began serving herself a healthy serving of breakfast. They all sat and talked excitedly about anything and everything. Fred and George discussed new prank ideas for the spring term. Percy was lecturing Charlie on how his hard work and determination was getting him very far in school, while Charlie sat there with a pained expression on his face and nodding every once in a while to make Percy think that he was still listening. Bill was talking to Arthur about business at Gringotts. Ron was simply shoveling massive amounts of food into his mouth (he is a growing boy after all), and choking on food every now and then, which elicited a speech from Mrs. Weasley about how he needs to chew his food. Ginny sat there savoring her meal, and her family.

After the wonderful meal, the entire Weasley clan made it out to the tree, and opened their gifts. They each received their customary Weasley sweater (which they all immediately wore our of respect for their mother), and their box of candies. Ginny even received a third present, a new t-shirt, which she was overjoyed to receive. They may not receive much for Christmas, but there was so much love between the entire family that it really didn't matter. They new Christmas wasn't about the gifts, but about the family time spent together and the love between everyone. Ginny quickly thanked everyone for her presents, and headed upstairs to her room to try on her new shirt, a smile covering her face that nearly reached her ears.

As she entered her room, she found Hedwig sitting on her windowsill, and a rectangular package and a note tied to its leg. She quickly ran over to the beautiful snowy owl.

"Hey girl!" Ginny exclaimed, and grabbed the package tied to her leg. She handed Hedwig some owl treats that her mum had gotten her since Hedwig had become a regular. Ginny then quickly opened the note:

_Dear Ginny_,

_I got this little gift for you for Christmas. I really hope you like. I don't really know what to get a girl for Christmas, so hopefully I guessed right. Anyways, Christmas break is going quite well for me. I've been doing a lot of reading so far and getting ahead in my classes. I try to have fun when I can, and I will play in the snow every now and then. I hope everything is going well, and I hope you are having a wonderful Christmas! _

_Always,_

_Harry_

_P.S. If you like it, you can wear it all the time. It will never scratch, or damage, or anything. I hope you like it! _

Ginny quickly refolded the letter, and opened her new present. She gasped; it was a beautiful silver bracelet with a little heart shaped charm. As she looked closer, she could see "Ginny" was engraved on one side, and "Merry Christmas From Your Harry" was etched on the other. She couldn't even take it out of the box. It looked like it was too precious. She closed the box, and turned back to Hedwig.

"I can't accept this Hedwig. It's too nice. You're going to have to take it back to Harry." She said sadly, handing the bracelet to Hedwig.

Hedwig merely ruffled her feathers, and hooted, as if to say: _Nope, it's all yours_.

Ginny harrumphed. "Fine." And she quickly pulled out her own gift for Harry. She added a little bit to note, and then sealed it. She told Hedwig to take it to Harry as quickly as possible.

After Hedwig had left with her Christmas gift, she put on her new bracelet, and she couldn't help but think that it fit her wrist perfectly.

* * *

Harry sincerely hoped that Ginny liked her gift. He hadn't known what to get her for Christmas, so he had Rowena one evening. She had told him that women like jewelry, so Merlin and Rowena had shown a few old and ancient spells for jewelry making. He learned how to summon steel and small amounts silver. He then formed the steel into the links and the heart, and then coated it all in silver. That and the engraving spells had mostly been Rowena's work. Merlin had taught him protection spells that he could add to the bracelet. Harry had only been too excited to add them. It meant that Ginny would be that much safer, and he knew he couldn't bare to ever see her hurt.

Harry had not received any presents that morning, but he hadn't been expecting to. He really didn't care since he had never received presents before really, all he cared about was if Ginny liked her present. However, later that afternoon, Hedwig had returned, and it appeared that she was carrying a note. Hedwig soared over to Harry, and handed him the note from Ginny.

_Dear Harry,_

_Merry Christmas! I know this isn't much, but I hope you like it all the same. I included a picture of me so you can have a piece of me there with you at Hogwarts. It's nothing really special, but it was the best I could come up with, so I hope it's alright. I hope your Christmas break is going well, I know mine is! I have mostly been with my family, and it has been great._

_Love,_

_Ginny_

_P.S. WHAT WERE YOU THINKING SENDING ME THAT BRACELET FOR CHRISTMAS! That must have cost you a fortune! I don't deserve a gift like that! It's much too beautiful for someone like me! But Hedwig wouldn't let me send it back so you could return it, so I will just have to wear it and show it off. I really do love it though; I just wish you hadn't spent so much and made my present look so bad._

Harry laughed to himself a bit. He looked at the picture, and thought that his gift was nothing compared to hers. He loved the picture, and it was the best Christmas gift he had ever received. He was also extremely relieved to read that she loved the bracelet (and that Hedwig wouldn't take the bracelet back). Harry quickly put Ginny's picture in a safe place in his trunk, and then laid down on his bed thinking how this had been the best Christmas of his entire life…

* * *

Sirius had returned to his house and sat on his couch, staring into the fire. Finally, he realized that he had to do something about this terrible situation with Harry. He quickly began writing a letter to someone who he knew could help Harry out, and he hoped that he, Sirius, could perhaps do something himself to help Harry and make up for all the mistakes he made when those many years ago…

* * *

_A/N: The usual short answer to reviews:_

_Anyone who asked about Sirius and Remus, here is your answer. I focused more on Sirius, and I will get back to Remus in the next chapter. Hagrid and Snape will come into play much more in the spring term._

_Nyeshet: Harry drops his wand off at dinner and picks it back up at breakfast. Snape will be back, and I just haven't decided what I am going to do with Neville. Harry is definitely using his magic abilities to hide information from Dumbledore. Thanks for the great review again!_

_Inajuma Kanji: Harry has strong knowledge base because of Merlin and the founders, but he is really only powerful in occlumency right now. He is more powerful than most first years, but compared to an adult wizard, he still doesn't stand much of a chance because he still has so much growing to do._

_Murray: Thank you so much for the grammatical critique. I always mess up on those awkward phrasings, however I usually catch them on the proof-read, but as I mentioned earlier, I just don't have time to do that (and my beta bailed on me)._

_Worldmaker: I know that it is not likely that parents would act like this (and I am not a parent, so im very inexperienced), but I'm going with the fame causing this. As for Dumbledore being out of character, he is taking his "greater good" ideal to the extreme in this story right now, but it will mellow out later._

_I hope you all enjoy, and remember to review!_


End file.
